The Nixon Rule

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE

The Nixon Rule

 

“When the president does it, that means

it is not illegal.” Richard Nixon

 

Are we prepared for what follows?

 

If the president is granted blanket immunity

for official acts even beyond his term as

president, what is to stop the next president

from purging the body politic of enemies and

adversaries alike?

 

If the next president is the man of Mar-a-Lago,

the purge will be immediate and revenge

will be ruthless.

 

The Department of Justice will be the president’s

personal hit squad, formulating a hit list and

taking all who oppose him out by all means

necessary, legal and illegal.

 

The Proud Boys could be deputized to the

dirty work of punishing demonstrators and

standing guard over voting precincts.

 

Truth Social could be declared the official

state media and all other media could be

sued out of existence by draconian bans on

slandering our dear leader.

 

There is no end to the damage our dear

leader could do to our democracy.

 

It is easy to lose democracy.

It is hard to get it back. 

 

Foundations of Law

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE

Foundations of Law

 

Justice is the foundation of law

If it is not the law becomes tyranny

Or rather an instrument of tyranny

Belonging to a tyrant

 

When the Supreme Court entertains

the notion of assassination for political

purpose as legal and beyond reproach

we are in grave danger

 

The attorneys for the United States are

too modest in their questioning

They should ask: if the president believes

in his heart and soul that certain justices

of the Supreme Court pose an imminent and

existential threat to American democracy

and the rule of law, could he order their

assassination as an official act without fear

of legal recourse?

 

Case closed. 

 

Mississippi Law

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE

Mississippi Law

 

Anything goes in Mississippi

The law is what they say it is

Whether you fall victim to abuse

Depends largely on what day it is

 

They taze you bro if they feel like it

They might beat you or abuse you

They don’t take you to the jailhouse

If they did they just might lose you

 

They’ve been doing it for decades

Getting away with it, too

If you think you’ve got your rights

You don’t know them like we do

 

This world can be an evil place

It doesn’t matter where you are

For evil thrives in evil hearts

But Mississippi sets the bar

 

These people who did the deeds

Should never be free again

What they did is beyond forgiving

They’ve become less than men

 

Justice Denied

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE

Justice Delayed

 

For those who consider him a fool

He knows how the game is played

Maybe he faked his way through school

But justice denied is justice delayed

 

There are many ways to push back time

His lawyers know how it’s done

A thousand documents at deadline

This is how their cause is won

 

They don’t have to escape the blame

They don’t have to win on the law

They just have to delay the game

It’s a monster made out of straw

 

You’d think we would have learned

Our patience and nerves are frayed

Play their game and you might get burned

For justice denied is justice delayed

 

Don’t look now, it’s turned around

We’re on the other side

Looking in and wondering how

Justice delayed is justice denied

 

The Unbiased

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE

 

The Unbiased

 

Are you now or have you ever been

a member of the MAGA army?

Are you now or have you ever been

a Joe Biden sympathizer?

 

If there is anyone in this nation

who has not made up their mind

about the two gentlemen representing

their respective parties in the coming

presidential election who are they?

Where have they been for the last

half century and beyond?

 

Have you ever watched a television show?

Have you ever read a newspaper?

Have you ever voted in an election?

Have you ever considered voting?

Have you every pledged allegiance

to the flag of the United States of America?

Have you ever considered what that means?

Do you believe in the rule of law?

Do you believe in democracy?

Do you know what that is?

 

If there is anyone in this fair land

who can answer no to all these questions

their lack of bias speaks of ignorance

or an astounding level of disinterest

 

In either case they should not sit

in judgment on anyone in any case

whatsoever

(Note: Jury selection for Trump's NY trial begins.)

The John Lewis Bridge

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: EQUAL RIGHTS

The John Lewis Bridge

 

Edmund Pettus was a leader of the KKK

They named a bridge after him

And on that bridge years later

They beat the hell out of black marchers

Marching for equal rights

Marching for the right to vote

Marching to be recognized

 

In an enlightened age there would be

no Edmund Pettus Bridge

It would be torn down stone by stone

Iron beam by iron beam

Scattered across the nation

Placed in museums and town halls

to remind us of our former ignorance

 

Instead let us remove the name of

Edmund Pettus and replace it with

one of the brave souls beaten on that

fateful day: The John Lewis Bridge

 

Let it be remembered by all who cross

the price that was paid that day

 

Let it serve as a reminder of the triumph

of the human spirit

The power of light over the darkness

Of good over evil

 

Insurrection Blues Redux

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: INSURRECTION

Insurrection Blues Redux

 

Want to start an insurrection?

Want to turn over an election?

If you’re Donald Trump you’re fine

If you’re not you’re doing time

 

Asking congress to do their job

Of interpreting the constitution

Is an abdication of their duty:

Delivering just restitution

To a man guilty of treason

The court offers no solution

It goes beyond all reason

It’s a wicked convolution

In a convoluted season

 

You had the duty to decide

The pressing question of the day

Is Donald Trump qualified

Or is that a price he has to pay

For inciting insurrection

Back on Insurrection Day?

 

There are three levels of the law

One is for the rich

For whom the court is made of straw

Another is for the poor

For whom brutality is raw

A third is for the Donald

Whose defiance is in awe

 

The man is guiltier than guilt

The truth is plain to see

The Court is in his pocket

It’s a sad reality

 

(re: Supreme Court V. Colorado.)

Voting Rights

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Voting Rights

 

When the Court gutted Voting Rights

Back in twenty and thirteen

It was no longer necessary

Said the Chief of the Supremes

Eleven years later we look at the divide

It is plenty clear to see

The Chief Justice lied

 

When you make it hard to vote

For voters with dark skin

You make it even harder

For their candidates to win

 

Alabama, Georgia, Texas

Mississippi, Tennessee

They’ve all embraced the principle

Of racial gerrymandering

 

If that was not enough

To push down turnout in the cities

They made them wait for hours

While they shrugged: Ain’t it a pity?

 

So they got what they wanted

They tipped the balance to their side

It should not come as a surprise

The Court of all courts lied

 

The Wrath of Woman

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

Forced Pregnancy (The Wrath)

 

Forced pregnancy and forbidden travel

A woman will have no choice

Rape, incest, the life of the mother

Women will have no voice

 

Is this the vision that you’re offering?

A subversion of women’s rights

Hunker down and hold on tight

You’re in for the fight of your life

 

Have you seen the damage you have done?

Have you felt the human suffering?

This is a battle that will be won

The crowd will roar and singers sing

 

You’ve challenged women as never before

They will rise to take you down

You have wandered to a distant shore

You are standing on shaky ground

 

If you knew the scope of what you’re doing

You would take another path

For none of you has ever known

The power of a woman’s wrath

Supreme Wisdom

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: SUPREME COURT

Supreme Wisdom

 

What is an insurrection?

First we must decide

Based on precedent however meager

What is what?

For What means many things to many people

What can stand alone or seek the company of others

What can be a verb

He did what to whom?

What can be a noun

His name is what?

What is what you call him

(only if he’s drunk)

If we survive the test of What

We move on to Is

Here we find precedent

A former president once said:

It depends on what Is is

Which raises the question of Isis

Is is Isis? What was she?

What is she? And how does she apply?

That leads us to An

As opposed to A

For An must always oppose A

It is written in the constitution

The constitution of grammar

A shall precede a noun beginning with a consonant

An shall precede a noun beginning with a vowel

With few exceptions

Should we endure this treacherous journey

Fraught with unforeseen pitfalls and

Duplicitous encounters

We arrive with due caution at the very

Heart of the matter: Insurrection

Quite frankly: We know it when we see it

Case closed!

Cruel and Unusual

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DEATH PENALTY

Cruel and Unusual

 

In times past a king executed a human

being with the wave of his hand

 

Beheading

Hanging

Stoning

A firing line

 

A king, a queen, an emperor, a commander

gave the order and the executor executed

It was common though it was cruel

 

Today we subject the accused to a trial

that can take months or years

To an appeals process that takes decades

And an execution that drags on and on

in finding a method of killing that is

something less than horrific

 

Electrocution

Chemical injection

The gas chamber

Hanging or firing line

 

It is no longer common

but it is cruel beyond belief

If we make cruelty common

it is no longer unconstitutional

but it remains unconscionable

immoral and devoid of humanity

 

We are experimenting with death

Manipulating methods of taking life

until we find one that masks its

inherent cruelty

 

Our nation and culture can never be

civilized until we ban this barbaric practice

Every individual who supports the death

penalty should be forced to watch an

execution in real time

 

The dying of the light is common

The taking of the light is cruel

The state should have no right

Let mercy be the rule

Salutation

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Salutation (July 4^th)

 

If you love this nation

Understand what she was founded on

The times that try men’s souls

The courage of the working class

The right to self-governance

The right to free expression

The right to worship as you will

Freedom from persecution

Equal justice under the law

Freedom from unjust authority

The right to vote and be counted

The right to engage in peaceful protest

The right to individuality

 

The nation was founded on ideals

Principles of the enlightened

The age of dignity and reason

The nation was born to overcome

The prejudice of individual men

The indignity to women and minorities

America was not meant to embrace them

 

If you love this nation

Salute her greatness, not her flaws

Salute her promise, not her failings

If you love this nation

Help her to achieve the dream